The present invention concerns a joining sleeve assembly for joining metal cookware with a cookware handle. In principle, the joining sleeve assembly utilizes a simple male-female pairing/latching-together configuration, with which effects, such as attractive appearance and strong joining strength, can be achieved after assembly.
In conventional assemblies, a metal piece with one end being a flat surface and the other end being equipped with a bent flat surface is bent to form a hollow joining sleeve assembly. After bending, the flat surface presses against the bent surface, and these surfaces are joined together by welding. However, this assembly is subject to the following drawbacks:
(a) The assembly is fastened together by means of spot welding, and the resulting welding spots detrimentally affect the appearance of the product.
(b) The flat surface must be pressed against the bend flat surface before welding can proceed, which is time consuming.
(c) The flat surface and bent flat surface are joined by means of spot welding. Since the welding quality has a direct effect on the product's working life, a great deal of effort is required in performing the spot welding operation, which is time consuming and inefficient.
In light of the above-mentioned drawbacks, another assembly was developed. The assembly involves bending a metal piece to form a hollow joining sleeve assembly. The two joining ends of said metal piece are serrated in a dovetail configuration to form a tight interlocking joint, when fitted correspondingly.
However, this assembly is also subject to the following drawbacks:
(a) Since a dovetail joint is involved in joining the two ends, its fabrication must be very precise in order to achieve a tight interlocking joint, which is tedious and time consuming.
(b) Since the two joining ends are joined together by means of flaring tenons and mortises, the resulting strength is not quite adequate. As a result, the working life of the final product is affected adversely.
In light of the above-mentioned problems, the inventor of the present invention conducted studies and improvements and arrived at the present joining sleeve assembly for joining a metal cookware with a cookware handle. In essence, the joining sleeve assembly utilizes a simple male-female pairing/latching-together configuration, with which the following effects can be achieved:
(a) After joining, the joined surface is flat, and the joining points cannot be seen. This imparts to the final product a desirable appearance.
(b) The means of joining involves inter-coupling linkages or hook-coupling linkages, which are very secure. As a result, the final product can have a long working life.
(c) Principally, the joining sleeve assembly utilizes a simple male-female coupling configuration, and the joining operation is simple and can be executed quickly. As a result, the joining method of the present invention is suitable for mass production, and both production cost and time can be reduced.
(d) The joining configuration can be varied by using different dies. Accordingly, flexibility can be achieved without the need to re-design the die set.